Drawer handles are NOT steel - oops

[UK-Winnie]

Haven't had much time this week - I decided to clean up some of the rusty interior cabinet fittings (hinges and drawer handles) in a tub of dilute hydrochloric acid.

The hinges have come up quite nice but it seems the drawer handles are not actually made of steel - five sort of survived but one dissolved into two pieces !!  I think what saved the others is the plating was intact but on the casualty the plating had peeled off the back exposing what I now understand to be some sort of alloy ?

By the way, I am probably replacing the catches with something more modern so if anyone wants original early '70s catches let me know (they're the ones with two opposed white plastic buttons).

[Stripe]

Yipes..

[Oz]

When I decided to clean all my OEM hinges and drawer pulls (they were totaly black over the years)  I used Brasso and a tooth brush.  I didn't clean them until all the plating or whatever was showing, just the high areas so they kept an antiqued look.